changing majors?

[StarLily]

Guys what are your suggestions on this? It's starting to stress me out!

 

I am a Biology major. I've taken a year and a half worth of Bio major courses. Then one day during this semester I came accross a Psychology textbook. I found it so interesting, I wanted to read it. I never want to read more than I am required from Biology or Chemistry courses I am required to take.

I have yet to take a psychology class. I always thought it would be one of those classes I take for a requirement at the end of my program. But now I am signing up for a Psychology class for Fall semester. I'm very curious about if I will still like it once I get deeper into the subject.

 

I'm getting stressed because I took all these classes I don't need, wasted a year and a half of college... for nothing! Psychology classes requirements are totally different. I don't even know if I can use Calculus for a math requirement, and that class stresses me out more than anything. I also don't need Chemistry for that and it's not exactly easy either. If I change my major, I will be stuck in school for 2 more years than previously required...

 

I guess I just need an advice or something from people that changed their major or know something about it. I am so stupid for not taking the full recommended load of general classes my first semester!

 

note: my mom is a psychology major. Maybe it's in the blood?

[Batya33]

My mom was a psych major too (and thank goodness, she had two crazy daughters, lol). I do know of people who switched and they did just fine - some did have to go to school a bit longer or make up extra classes during the summer.

 

(I loved the psych class I took!)

 

Good luck!

[annie24]

I think you should do whatever will help you get the career you want to get one day. Don't look at your bio classes as "wasted time". It is not. You have learned about yourself and you have taken some courses that will serve you later in life, even though you may not think so now.

 

You can always do a double major. Or you can take a minor in bio. What do you want to do? It may help you market yourself if you have bio experience, just depends......

[laboheme]

I changed my major after freshman year, and then decided to do a double major on top of that...So I'm also stuck in school an extra year, but I'm very happy doing it.

 

Keep in mind, it's much better to spend extra time in school doing something that you're interested in and passionate about instead of finishing up quickly but then realizing that you're not into your major at all.

 

Definitely check all the requirement and see if you can take an extra class here and there in order to finish up schooling earlier (if you think you can handle taking the extra credits without your grades taking a toll). Maybe also look into summer school?

[FA18]

I changed majors 3 years into college. I have a year left...but it has been well worth it. The extra year and a 1/2 is small when you look at the big picture.

[Night Pumpkin]

If you want my opinion, it really is a bad idea to change majors after doing so much study in one field.

 

Most employers don't really care what you majored in, as long as you have a university degree. Don't expect a different degree to actually help you succeed in the workplace.

 

Also, the longer you graduate, the longer it takes you to start working full time and begin making money. Think about it. Say you were to graduate and start with a $25,000 a year job. If it takes you one extra year to graduate, you have lost a potential $25,000. Is that something you are willing to give up ?

[StarLily]

You can always do a double major. Or you can take a minor in bio. What do you want to do? It may help you market yourself if you have bio experience, just depends......

 

Hm yeah a bio minor sounds like a good idea, because the topic interests me but not on the level they teach it at, apparently..

 

Keep in mind, it's much better to spend extra time in school doing something that you're interested in and passionate about instead of finishing up quickly but then realizing that you're not into your major at all.

 

Definitely check all the requirement and see if you can take an extra class here and there in order to finish up schooling earlier (if you think you can handle taking the extra credits without your grades taking a toll). Maybe also look into summer school?

 

Yeah that's why I'm debating with myself. I don't exactly want to hate my job for the rest of my life.

I can't take too many credits at once. I managed to pull a 3.4 GPA my first semester with 17 credits, but that was.. well, first semester. I'm struggling with 14 now... I guess it's true when they say that your first year of college is like your senior year of high school. The sophomore year hit me so hard..

 

I changed majors 3 years into college. I have a year left...but it has been well worth it. The extra year and a 1/2 is small when you look at the big picture.

 

That definitely makes me feel better! thanks for sharing that

 

If you want my opinion, it really is a bad idea to change majors after doing so much study in one field.

Well, I haven't focused on Bio yet. I had to take a General Bio elective and that's all my college allows me until I take a year worth of Chemistry. Well, that's what I'm doing now. So I guess I'm more focused on science in general rather than Biology for now.

 

Most employers don't really care what you majored in, as long as you have a university degree. Don't expect a different degree to actually help you succeed in the workplace.

Really? I didn't know that. That's odd, but makes me feel better. But still I'm sure that if I major in Bio, I can't really be a psychologist

[annie24]

if want to be a psychologist, you probably have to go to graduate school. A bio background may be fine, but you may be required by your graduate program to have taken many psychology classes as an undergrad.

 

Kind of like med school - they welcome all majors, in fact, you have a slightly better chance of getting in if you are say, a music major or a spanish language major....... but you still need to have taken x, y, and z years of chem, biochem, organic chem, and physics..... so you may as well be a bio major!

[rms8]

If psychology is what interests you and you think you can put a degree to good use then go for it! But first you better make sure you can switch without complications. Start sketching out what classes you need to take for the major and if you have time to fit everything in before you graduate. I got into a very demanding major with very little wiggle room and realized too late that I hated it and was stuck. Don't let that happen to you! Do what you want and what will make you happy. Trust me, there is nothing worse than trying to motivate yourself to do well in classes you have no interest in.

[Leonhart]

In Canada (and I doubt the U.S. is any different) you need a Ph.D to be psychologist. That's, like, eleven or twelve years of school.

 

That said, I'm taking psych and I love it. It's very interesting. But for the record, I hated biology, and a lot of other subjects I'm forced to take (stupid electives... only useful thing about them is meeting girls. lol)

[spirits]

Think of psychology as a bonus. You can read it in your free time. If you don't really care about getting some sort of a degree, you don't actually need to spend $20000 for people to teach you psychology.

 

I read about psychology in my spare time but my major is on the science side.

 

Science requires guidence, but you can read psychology in your spare time and still grasp the concepts.

 

Psychology is very empowering, but that is the case only if you apply what you learnt. Many people just see it as a faculty and then some sort of a job, and they missed the whole idea behind it.

 

If you actually want a job that is related to psychology, then i guess you should switch, but if you just find psychology interesting but have no plan making a career out of it, you should just read it in your spare time.

 

Think i'm repeating myself in this post... but yeah, read it in your spare time

[Unhumble]

Wouldn't you be interested or would you be able to further your biology courses to major/minor in something that is in between bio and psychology, something like Neurosciences for example?

 

The field of neurosciences is nowadays making many new discoveries in the field of psychology (especially by confirming certain theories and showing that others are not "true"), applying neurochemical analysis and doing brainscans (fMRI) to explain the different correlations.

link removed

 

I'm still a great fan of magazines that report on the recent discoveries in

link removed

(e.g. Scientific American MIND..

have a look at the current topics on their website link removed )

 

And I heard of other interesting fields that might be a midway between biology and psychology, e.g. Evolutionary sciences (evolutionary psychology) And obviously: link removed

[Aleadragonhawk]

My only advice is to take a psychology course before you change your major. Personally, I wanted to major in psychology. Took one course, hated it, and now I'm juggling classes to avoid ever taking another course in it. What you think you'll like and what you really will like can be different things.

[Haven]

Psychology major love!

 

It really depends on what you're planning on doing after you graduate. There are actually subfields of the psychology major, and there's a wide variety of subjects. So depending on what you're interested in doing, you have a lot of different choices.

 

Like someone mentioned, you could major in Neuroscience.. it includes psychology, biology, and chemistry.

 

Unless you're planning on going to graduate school for psychology, or getting a job directly related to psychology, you could just go for the psych minor if it's going to take you too long to get the major.

 

I guess it's true when they say that your first year of college is like your senior year of high school. The sophomore year hit me so hard..

My sophomore year is killing me.

[CaptainPlanet]

The only majors worth taking are engineering or accounting.

[NewPhillyGuy]

Your situation was alot different than mine, but I did change majors, so hopefully my two cents will be of some value. In short, my story is that I was forced by parents to take up a major that I didn't truly enjoy. The school that I went to was very expensive and I really wanted to go, so they set a condition that I had to take the major that they wanted. They wanted me to go into Computer Engineering. At the time, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I didn't mind the idea of doing Computer Science and learning software development, but I did not want to go near the hardware engineering part of it.

 

The wind up was that I was bored out of my mind. I really disliked many of my classes. I wasn't doing too great in some of them. After two ugly semesters, I approached my parents about changing to another major. Psychology was actually one of my choices. They flipped out on me. I sat on it for a few days, and just up and went to the dean and changed my major myself without telling them. I told them after it happened. They brooded for a long time, threatened to pull me out, etc. The wind was that I had to take out loans to pay for some of my education myself. All said and done, I had to pay for a year's worth. Not too bad over the long run, but a year at this place was still insane!

 

Alot of my friends at the time took up whatever they wanted. Their parents were extremely supportive. Many people started off freshman year taking a bunch of different classes, and later focused on whatever interesed them. Let's be honest here - you have to take something you like, because you will be doing whatever it is for the rest of your life. However, you should be responsible about it. Changing your major 10 times is a waste of money and is not going to help you in the long run. Time, after all, is money and not many people can afford to spend 6 years in college lol.

 

Now, no offense. I'm not saying this is what you are doing. Don't feel bad about changing your major. You need to do what interests you. If you want to do psych, do psych but just bear in mind you may have to stay in school longer and that will cost more. Make sure your finances are in order and you may need to make arrangements to accommodate this change.

 

Best of luck to you. There are plenty of crazy people in the world. Many of them are my exes, so one more psychologist gets my vote!

[Iceman26]

I was going to major in psychology too, until I realized that you can't really do anything with it unless you get a PhD.

[annie24]

There are plenty of crazy people in the world. Many of them are my exes

 

LOL!!!!!! too funny!

[poloplayer]

Hi,

 

It's never too late to change majors. I started college as a history major - yup, i'm one of those buffs. Everyone asked me how I will make some money - study business. I took a finance course my junior year of college and set the curve in the class - and I always hated math. Switched to economics with a finance concentration my junior year. I had some extra courses to take, but I am glad I did it. And today, history, as well as psychology, are two of my favorite hobbies to read up upon.

 

You have to decide what you want to do. A part of me tells you to follow your passions, and a part of me tells you to be a little practical as well. But don't worry. I ask myself almost daily - "what do I want to do in life?" Getting a degree is better than none, but I don't agree with the stick and carrot analogy of $25k dangling before you're eyes. It's alluring, but short-sighted.

 

The only majors worth taking are engineering or accounting.

 

Not sure if this is flame or not, but I think it holds some merit. Not so much the accounting aspect (solid major and very practical), but if you majored in engineering that you have the intellectual horsepower to pursue any job out there - as well as any graduate level program. I know plenty of people who majored in engineering, and they do nothing in the traditional line of work with engieering. Those skills can be applied to so many different jobs.

[annie24]

I also think that the $25K carrot dangled is very very short sighteded.

 

And, lol, engineering and accounting are the only majors worth getting degrees in? LOL! That is too funny. it has to be a joke. If you want to be a doctor or a biologist, how is knowing how an engine works or how to do accounting going to help you.

 

what if the entire world were made up of engineers and accountants?

[Night Pumpkin]

Eeii !!

 

My $25,000 analogy was very thoughtful and true !!!

 

For me, it took me 5 years to finish university. If I had done it in 3 years (which is possible with a trimester system) I be 2 years ahead in the workforce. Now I am making $30,000 a year, so that could actually be an extra $60,000. Now most people are going to get married, so if both a person and thier future partner get a head start of 2 years, and each start of making $30,000 a year, that puts them ahead $120,000 !!!

 

The best option of course is to find a way to work full time and to go to school part time. If I had done that....

[annie24]

A degree is more than just a piece of paper. I hope you learned something in those 2 years, and got some good life experience, not just checked some classes off your list. I think you are better off in a field you love, and taking a few extra years to get there, rather than going with the fastest major and hating your job.

[Night Pumpkin]

If you can actually work in the field you love, then that would be true. The problem is though that it's almost impossible to get into the field one studies in university.

 

In university I studied criminology, and would have loved to have gotten into policing or customs. However, the police and customs service more or less threw out my applications. Now I work for eBay !!!! LOL...go figure...

 

Thats why it doesn't really matter what degree you have, because it's unlikely one will get a job actually related to that degree !!

[annie24]

Thats why it doesn't really matter what degree you have, because it's unlikely one will get a job actually related to that degree !!

 

I guess it depends for some people. However, for me and my friends in my field, we all have wound up in what we got our undergrad degrees in. Just depends on your field.

[CaptainPlanet]

If you're going to take a psychology major I cannot urge you to take it with another major that is more vocational. Teaching, accounting, engineering ?

 

I can't think of anything worse than completing your courses and finding out 3years down the track that there is no job for you. Always remember that often the most interesting fields are the most competitive and there is a lot more to liking a job than liking a textbook about it. For example do you want an attractive salary, respect, security to be in demand to be around other people.

 

I suggest talking to the dean of the school and ask him about how past graduates have gone and about their direct ties to industry or any industry bases learning they might offer. If he is vague about any of the above i would be cautious about studying there.